The present invention relates generally to the provision of mass data storage apparatus that can be frequently and easily revised, and that will produce required data of interest, from a data base, directly or in a desired, modified form on an imaging output device or in hard copy in direct response to a user inquiry in navigational planning systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to portable navigation planning requiring specific information and hands-on details, for example, flight planning and seaboard navigation, in which times, vectors, elevations, latitude, longitude and other data, including customized graphic aids, may have particular significance for the user.
Navigational planning has heretofore been done in a number of ways, many of which involve published source information requiring tedious, time consuming, manual filing and information accumulation, or otherwise require extensive information networks to process the desired data. For example, pilots have long faced the tedious task of assembling and then refiling charts and other data for their originating and arriving airports periodically, so it may be available for use as a part of the preparation for instrument flight plans.
A typical instrument flight plan as required by Federal regulation includes:
1. Type of flight plan--for example, whether the flight is intended to be flown under visual flight rules (VFR) or under instrument flight rules (IFR);
2. Aircraft identification--the complete identification (registration number) of the aircraft to be used in the specified flight;
3. Aircraft type/special equipment--abbreviated make and model designation of the aircraft and a designation appropriate for the transponder area navigation equipment available on the aircraft.
4. True air speed--the true air speed at cruise in knots of the aircraft being flown;
5. Departure point--using an identifier code or the full name of the airport for the departure airport;
6. Departure time--estimated time of departure in Greenwich Mean Time;
7. Cruising altitude--the intended final altitude or flight level;
8. Route of flight --the intended route of flight including designations of NAVAID identifier codes or names, airways, jet routes or RNAV waypoints;
9. Destination--designated by the use of an identifier code or name and location of the designation airport;
10. Estimated time in route--estimation of flight time based on latest forecast of winds, cruising altitude and power settings;
11. Remarks--any necessary clarifications to the flight plan information or notes to the Air Traffic Controller (ATC);
12. Fuel on board--estimation of fuel based on computation of typical fuel usage (reference to #10) for the aircraft in hours and minutes;
13. Alternate airport--designation by identifier code or location and name of an alternate airport for landing;
14. Pilot's name, address and telephone number and home base of aircraft;
15. Number on board--the total number of people to board the aircraft; and
16. Aircraft color--designation of the predominant colors of the aircraft.
In addition to the preparation of an FAA flight plan as outlined above, pilots operating under instrument flight rules typically must prepare or have access to a trip kit consisting of all the navigational materials necessary for both the departure and arrival airports. In addition, alternate airport and enroute emergency airport approach charts must be accumulated or made available for quick access in the cockpit.
To date, navigation charts are published by a number of services. The most popular of these is Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc. which sends looseleaf pages to its subscribers on a periodical basis to be inserted, page by page, in number of ring binders specially designed for that purpose. The pilot then must access the approach, taxi and other charts necessary and appropriate for his navigational planning in accordance with his flight plan.
The National Ocean Service (NOS) also publishes air navigation charts which are perfect bound with fifteen books to cover the country. Replacement books currently are shipped to subscribers every fifty-six days. In assembling the necessary navigational materials for a particular flight, a pilot must select those books containing the appropriate approach and other charts for the airports and alternate airports on his flight plan. In this situation, the pilot faces referencing these sometimes bulky books during flight.
Heretofore, these typical flight services have been paper oriented--that is, they have relied upon printed paper chart representations and updates of the numerous charts involved. This results in bulk (a typical Jeppesen chart set may exceed forty pounds) and tedious filing and refiling of updates and used charts with a concordant risk of misfiling or pulling incorrect charts in preparation of the flight materials.
Similar situations exist in other navigational areas and pose similar problems as face the flight navigator. For example, seaboard navigators must have ready access to reef information for any waters they intend to travel, as well as harbor or channel charts for both origin and destination harbors. Additional, particularized harbor information may also be desired or required.
Likewise, other applications such as electrical or phone network maintenance particularized, on-site, on-demand information and cartographic aids.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an on-demand system which generally overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art.
It is a more detailed object to provide a system and data retrieval method which provides for portable navigational assistance from one source in a concise and easily usable form.
It is still a further object to provide a system having data formatted for safer, quicker and more accurate access both before and during travel.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system which requires little or no user maintenance and filing while eliminating the risk of losing or misfiling the crucial navigational aids and not having the legally required information for the intended flight.
It is still a further object to provide a system having provision for all necessary services and in addition to further desired safety and/or convenience features.
It is a specific object of the present invention to provide a flight planning navigational aid system for obtaining current weather, generating FAA rated flight plan information and navigational charts and other information that a pilot must have for instrument rated flights.
Generally, the present invention provides a portable mass data storage apparatus which may be utilized for such applications as navigational planning to provide on demand, custom, cartographic information in addition to particularized, stored data records as needed by the user. The apparatus may be frequently and easily revised and may produce required data of interest, from a database, directly or in a desired modified form on an imaging output device or in hard copy in direct response to a user request. Systems embodying the present invention generally comprise a compact data storage or memory device for storing the required information, including navigational information, to be provided to the user in a form which is directly usable by the user and particularized to each user application. An input device, such as a keyboard, communicates or cooperates with the data storage through a processor to provide selected outputs to the user at an output device, such as a CRT, LCD or printer. To provide for portability, the data storage, input, output, and processor devices should be contained within a portable cabinet structure. The processor may provide prompts to the user which are correlated to the information located in the data storage, the format of that information and the type of that information to prompt the user to make necessary selections of operating mode and output format. The processor may then respond to the user inputs to retrieve predetermined arrays of information from the data storage in a selected pattern for output. Additionally, the processor may process selected ones of the input data to provide associated information which may be unique to the input data and provide further meaning to the retrieved information. Further, the processor may respond to the input data to provide customized cartographic aids based on the information stored at the data storage.
An associated method further illustrates the application of the present invention. The portable system provides, on-demand an image or hard copy of the desired data, including a navigational plan by retrieving portions of an information database in response to selected input information. The retrieved portions may then be formatted to provide the desired navigation plan and outputted to the user in a convenient form. Additionally, the retrieved portions of the navigational information from the database may be processed to provide customized graphic representations to the user without display of the entire retrieved records from the database.
The system also may provide specific navigational information as to named locations. A user may then access navigational data by name or geographical reference and cross reference between name and geographic references.
Further specific features and objects of the present invention may become apparent in conjunction with a review of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.